Report: Must-have Hatchimals hitting Toys 'R' Us shelves this weekend

Parents have learned quickly the hottest toy of the season, Hatchimals, are nearly impossible to find on store shelves. According to BFads.net, Toys 'R' Us stores are releasing inventory of Hatchimals on Sunday, December 4th, at select stores.

Starting at 8:00 a.m., Bfads.net reports folks can get the toy for $69.99 -- limit one per person.

There are also rumors Target will also have Hatchimals this weekend.

If you're in search of the top toy of the season, you may want to show up early to nab one of these eggs!

You may be asking, what is a Hatchimal? The must-have toy of the season is a large plastic egg. To get these eggs to hatch, kids must interact with its shell, which features touch technology. When you tap on it, the Hatchimal taps back. When you stroke the top or bottom, it lights up and makes sounds.

There are two families of Hatchimals — Pengualas and Draggles — and as the names suggest, their look is inspired by penguins, koalas and dragons. Each costs $59.99 and go on sale starting Friday.

When they’re ready to hatch (usually after 30 minutes of continuous play), it’ll do so on its own.

The Hatchimal pecks on the shell — loudly and with force, rotating its head to strike at different spots.

Eventually, the beak breaks through enough to lift the top part of the egg.

A Hatchimal’s behavior matures over a couple of days and weeks. It becomes a toddler and eventually, an adult Hatchimal.

As a baby, you feed it by touching its beak to the floor. It becomes more interactive as a toddler. It’ll dance, repeat your words and move when you clap your hands. The Hatchimal will play games with you in its grown-up stage.

Parent company Spin Master, is known for its innovative approach to toys. Two years ago, its robotic interactive toy Zoomer was hit among kids, followed by the success of Meccanoid — a programmable walking, talking personal robot.

The company said it took two years to develop the Hatchimals. This included selecting the perfect hatching time for each egg.

“Kids don’t have a lot of patience,” said James Martin, head of Spin Master’s robotics unit. “We didn’t want it to take too long , but we also didn’t want it happen too fast.”

It also wanted to avoid kids giving up on the toy right after it hatched.

“We put a lot of effort into ensuring that the play went much beyond the hatching,” Martin said.

Unlike many other interactive toys in the market, Hatchimals don’t interact with an app.

“This was a conscious decision on our part,” said Smith. “Kids already have a lot of daily screen time. We didn’t want to add to it.”

Jim Silver, a toy industry expert, has already pegged Hatchimals as one of the must have toys of 2016.

“Almost 20 years ago, we had the Tamagotchi virtual pet you had to hatch and take care of,” he said. “Hatchimals is like that but brought to life.”

The company said it hopes to add more hatching creatures to the Hatchimals family soon.